AlthoughHorizon Zero Dawnhas been around for some time now, it’s still one of Sony’s most notable game releases. Combined with its expansions, it’s one of the most open-world RPGs we’ve seen from them and with it comes open-world enemies. This game has seen its fair share of random encounters and anyone who has mastered this RPG knows that sneaking is vital for prime attacks. However, this game also relies heavily on the fact that the player is able to switch out their ammo and bows depending on which enemy they’re facing.
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The world of technologically-advanced beasts is what madeHorizon Zero Dawnso glorious in the first place, and we’re taking a look back at ten of the toughest enemies and bosses, ranked in order. Starting with the least threatening all the way up to bosses that made us grit our teeth and hunker down, here’s what gamers have to look forward to if they’ve not yet discovered this brilliant RPG.
Updated July 12, 2025 by Ritwik Mitra:Horizon Zero Dawnis one of the best open-world games around right now, with its sequel poised to make everyone realize once again the limitless potential of this series and its brilliant world. The game features incredible combat with massive, awe-inspiring machines that are a blast to defeat. With the recent release ofHorizon Forbidden West, players who want to stay up-to-date with the story of this series should start the first game and fight enemies as soon as possible. Of course, some machines are going to be way more challenging than others.
15Longleg
The Longleg is easily one of the most annoying enemies in the game. It’s extremely fast and hits for deceptively high damage, making it a pain to deal with this powerful foe.
To make things worse, Longlegs can also sound the alarm and alert other machines in the vicinity. Players need to be wary and either defeat this enemy stealthily, or whip out the most powerful weapons they have in their arsenal to take this enemy down quickly before it can call reinforcements.
14Shell-Walker
The Shell-Walker has a ton of valuable resources, making ita ripe machine for Aloy to hun. However, don’t assume that this machine will just sit back and let the player take its valuables.
With its damaging close-range attacks and electrical abilities, the Shell-Walker is no joke and will be a pain to deal with even for veteran players. It doesn’t help that this enemy has a shield that can also add to the annoyance of dealing with this enemy.
13Stalker
The idea of an enemy hunting one down while using stealth is a horrifying prospect, especially since Aloy is the one generally doing this. It’s this stealthy approach that makes Stalkers such a threatening enemy.
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They might not take too long to defeat, but that doesn’t make these enemies any less daunting. Players need to avoid as much unnecessary damage as possible while dealing with these powerful machines, who pull zero punches in trying to hunt Aloy down.
12Glinthawk
Out of all the enemies on this list,the Glinthawk is easily one of the most annoying enemies to defeat. These vulture-like machines waste no time in hunting down machine carcasses and hauling them away if the player gives them the chance.
Trying to loot machines while simultaneously dealing with this aerial threat is a pretty challenging prospect. Thankfully, with a bit of dodging and ranged combat, these enemies can be taken down without them seriously hampering your looting endeavors.
11Snapmaw
Snapmaws definitely aren’t the most threatening, which is why they’ve earned a fairly low-ranking spot. They are quite annoying, however, as their long, alligator-like beaks allow them to complete lunge attacks with a swift efficiency.
They are weak to fire which makes them easy enough to take out, but they can nab the player from both land and sea, making them unpredictable and making it necessary to take them out quickly. Keeping a safe distance and using blaze canisters is the best bet when facing one.
10Corruptor
Corruptors can be taken down in a myriad of ways, which makes them easy to kill fifty percent of the time. The other half of the time, that percentage makes them that much tougher to take down, since they have several means of taking Aloydown instead.
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Their weak points include the grenade launcher and spike core, which will disable both functions if the player can successfully take them out. This will effectively get rid of both long-range attacks and, if you have a good angle, taking out the heat core of the machine will destroy it almost entirely.
9Behemoth
The problem with Behemoths is that they travel in packs. Players will randomly run into herds of these and, due to their size, they can be a bit rough to take down. They’re fairly easy to take down, especially if players know where to aim an arrow.
The easiest thing to remember is to target either the machine’s head, its butt, or both. Force loaders on its head as well as freeze cells on its tail-end give players a huge advantage over this beast.
8Scorcher
Unless gamers are playing a version ofHorizon Zero Dawnthat includesThe Frozen Wildsexpansion pack, they don’t need to worry about running into Scorchers. However, they’ve made the list simply because most people do have the expansion pack — at least, those who are fans of the game — and it’s likely they’ve encountered a few.
These enemies are powerful and aggressive in their stances and attacks, meaning they need to be taken down quickly. As their name implies, they’re weak to freeze attacks, but they’ll get Aloy with their close-range fire attacks.
7Frostclaw
There are two bear-like enemies introduced inThe Frozen WildsDLC forHorizon Zero Dawn. One of these enemies is the Frostclaw, who will waste no time in hunting Aloy down and taking her out with its wealth of highly-damaging attacks,
Players need to be on their A-game and completely annihilate this monster with their powerful moves to even stand a chance of victory. Being complacent will lead to the Frostclaw quickly closing the distance and defeating the player with a few swipes.
6Fireclaw
Fireclaws are also specific to the expansion pack, and players are glad, because they’re pretty scary to see in the game. These machines stand up in a humanoid form, giving them the advantage of being on an even fighting ground with the player. The good news is that they’re usually solitary and only found near The Cut.
They’re similar to Scorchers as far as their attacks and vulnerabilities which, again, includes freeze. Using a fire attack on one of these will only increase their strength and make them that much harder, so no matter how much players are tempted simply because they’re in the middle of a blizzard, don’t do it.
